Highest Rated Review by the Community
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Mar 14 '07
Pros: Norton, Giamatti, Cinematography
Cons: Core story a little worn
Summary: I am not a fan of magic shows or magicians. I just want to get that out there right now. The David Copperfields of this world bore me to tears with their grand fakery. Spending money to see one of these “entertainers” when I could buy untold ... read more
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Nov 09 '08
Pros: Prague, interior sets, cinematography
Cons: structure, pacing, plot, lack of romantic chemistry
Summary: I was hoping that "The Illusionist" would provide me a contribution to CaptainD's good movie writeoff. At least in terms of cinematography (Dick Pope's) and production design (Ondrej Nekanasil) it excels, and there is ... read more
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Dec 21 '07
Pros: Great acting, great story, great directing
Cons: Small children will get bored
Summary: I like Edward Norton. Norton is a wonderful actor, and he has a sardonic edginess that never gets gimmicky or cloying. In The Illusionist he plays a magician with a romance problem, and he solves it magically. In the process we, the audience, get to see ... read more
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Jul 03 '07
Pros: Nicely filmed, Ed Norton is great, is a biting American political allegory
Cons: Illusions are not real but are film tricks.
Summary: This is a great film not only because it is fun to watch, but because the hero (the illusionist) tricks the villain into killing himself. The morality of this is highly questionable, and this might be lost on a majority of moviegoers who perhaps ... read more
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May 10 '07
Pros: Paul Giamatti
Cons: Script.... Script.... Script....
Summary: Let it be said that Edward Norton is, in fact, the man. He could star as a man who was obsessed with the mystery of the extinct dodo bird, dress in a giant potato sack, and I’d still consider him one of the greatest actors of modern times. Having ... read more
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Mar 19 '07
Pros: Performances, plot, pacing, general idea
Cons: Nothing really comes to mind.
Summary: In 2006, we had two period pieces about European magicians--The Prestige (I reviewed this on Saturday 3.17.2007) and The Illusionist. Fortunately they do not cover the same territory despite magic being a central theme. Edward Norton ... read more
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Mar 14 '07
Pros: Supspensful, atmospheric and ultimately fulfilling.
Cons: For the astute, the plot is fairly obvious.
Summary: **Synospsis** Edward Norton and Jessica Biel play a cabinet maker’s son (Eisenheim) and a duchess (Sophie) in this tale of young love torn asunder. When Eisenheim is isolated from his young love because of the difference in class, he leaves ... read more
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Feb 21 '07
Pros: Surprisingly effective casting, script, magic scenes.
Cons: Not very memorable-----just a "good" movie.
Summary: Suppose that you want to make a film which involves magicians. How will you form the plot? Perhaps the most obvious route to travel is that of the "real magician." You know-----where the main character is an actual magician, not an illusionist. ... read more
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Jan 12 '07
Pros: Costumes and overall look of the film
Cons: Poor character development, bad casting
Summary: Poor boy meets rich girl. Poor boy falls in love with rich girl. A cruel world conspires to keep them away. Bet you saw that coming, didnt you ? It's not exactly an original plot. In fact, Bollywood (the Indian movie industry, for those out of the loop) ... read more
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Oct 21 '06
Pros: Excellent plot, flow extremely well, great characters and acting
Cons: Doesn't develop the main relationship all that well
Summary: I have always been a huge fan of love stories. I don't know why, must have been my mother raising me, but a good romantic comedy, gets me going just as much as a fast paced action film. In fact, some of my favorite movies are romantic comedies, such ... read more
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Oct 14 '06
Pros: Norton, Giamatti, Biel, Sewell, Burger's screenplay and direction
Cons: Some might see where the movie is going
Summary: Skilled magicians will make an audience believe that they can do things that are not humanly possible. In The Illusionist, Edward Norton stars as Edward Abramowitz, a magician in early 20th century Vienna who uses the stage name of Eisenheim. He ... read more
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Sep 23 '06
Pros: Sleight of hand
Cons: Slight, off-hand
Summary: So tell me if you’ve heard this one before. There’s a beautiful, classy girl, and she’s in love with this romantic young artist. But she happens to be engaged to a rich, powerful man, who wants to keep the young lovers apart so that he can ... read more
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Sep 18 '06
Pros: Strong, solid acting. Strong, solid film.
Cons: Final act not as strong as the first two.
Summary: I've often felt that the old adage 'they don't make films like they used to' should come attached with a caveat. On the surface, it's enough of a truism to hold up (though I suspect people have been saying this for as long as movies have been made), but ... read more
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Sep 10 '06
Pros: Edward Norton, Cinematography
Cons: Story is simple and predictable.
Summary: The Illusionist is a love story set in the 1900’s. This movie has some nice special effects, and some very pretty cinematography. The acting is decent, but the plot is fairly simple and predictable. Overall, I found it to be a nice, enjoyable film. ... read more
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Sep 05 '06
Pros: great casting, impressive writing and follow-through, very nice cinematography
Cons: none really
Summary: Based on the short story Eisenheim the Illusionist, Writer/Director Neil Burger brought his version of The Illusionist to the big screen on a shoe-string budget by Hollywood standards. Taking place during the late 1800's, the movie depicts Vienna, ... read more
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